Nvidia's Stock Soars, Adding Record $329 Billion in Market Value Amid AI Boom

Nvidia share price jumps 13%, adds record $329 billion in market value | Stock Market News

Nvidia share price surged nearly 13% and added about $330 billion in stock market value on Wednesday, a record one-day gain for any company on Wall Street. Nvidia stock price jumped 12.81% to $117.02 per share, and is now valued at $2.88 trillion, making it the third most valuable company on Wall Street, behind Apple and Microsoft. Nvidia's market capitalisation surge shattered Wall Street's previous record, which Nvidia also set on February 22 with a $277 billion gain, Reuters reported. Nvidia's highest ever closing stock market value was $3.34 trillion on June 18, according to LSEG. The rally in Nvidia shares comes on the back of expectations of high demand for its processors after Microsoft late on Tuesday reported a massive increase in artificial intelligence expenditures. Moreover, Advanced Micro Devices ratcheted up its 2024 forecast for its AI chip sales, further fuelling gains in Nvidia stock price and other chipmakers. Nvidia stock also got a boost after Morgan Stanley analysts elevated the stock to its 'Top Pick' after a recent sell-off from record highs reached in June. Morgan Stanley believes the recent drop in Nvidia shares "presents a good entry point as we continue to hear strong data points short term and long term, with overblown competitive concerns." Morgan Stanley maintained its 'Overweight' rating on Nvidia shares with a target price of $144. Nvidia share price has risen more than 140% in 2024 so far, outpacing the Nasdaq's gains of 17%. The company will release its next quarterly report on August 28. Analysts on average see technology companies in the S&P 500 growing their aggregated earnings by almost 10%, according to LSEG data. Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index index surged 7% in its biggest one-day gain since 2022. The index remains down 11% from its record high close on July 10. (With inputs from Reuters)

Nvidia shares surge 13%, lift market value a record $330bln

Nvidia's surge in stock market value shattered Wall Street's previous record, which Nvidia also set on Feb. 22 with a $277 billion gain Nvidia added about $330 billion in stock market value on Wednesday, a record one-day gain for any company on Wall Street after Microsoft and Advanced Micro Devices reignited the AI rally. Nvidia surged nearly 13% on expectations its top-of-the-line processors will remain in tight demand after Microsoft late on Tuesday reported a massive increase in artificial intelligence expenditures. Also lifting Nvidia and other chipmakers, Advanced Micro Devices ratcheted up its 2024 forecast for its AI chip sales. Microsoft fell 1.1%. "Microsoft reported some deceleration in its core cloud business, but a huge increase in capex. That represents a transfer of wealth from Microsoft shareholders to Nvidia shareholders," said Gil Luria, senior software analyst at D.A. Davidson. Nvidia's surge in stock market value shattered Wall Street's previous record, which Nvidia also set on Feb. 22 with a $277 billion gain. Nvidia is now valued at $2.88 trillion, making it Wall Street's third most valuable company, behind Apple and Microsoft. Nvidia's highest ever closing stock market value was $3.34 trillion on June 18, according to LSEG. The PHLX chip index surged 7% in its biggest one-day gain since 2022. The index sold off for much of July over worries that a rally fueled by optimism about AI had become overextended. It remains down 11% from its record high close on July 10. In its report, Microsoft said revenue from its Intelligent Cloud unit - home to the Azure cloud-computing platform - jumped 19% to $28.5 billion, but missed analysts' estimates of $28.7 billion. "Since Microsoft makes up approximately 20% of demand for Nvidia's highest quality AI chips, increasing capex spend at Microsoft is good news for Nvidia's bottom line," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB. "Since Nvidia remains the leading hardware producer for AI technology, increasing capex spend by its biggest customers bodes well for Nvidia's results." Its capital expenditure, including finance leases, surged 78% in the quarter to $19 billion, with Microsoft saying it needs to expand its global network of data centers and overcome capacity constraints to meet AI demand. The growing cost of the AI race shook investor confidence after Alphabet last week reported a bigger-than-expected rise in capital expenditure to support its generative AI technology. Technology companies have faced high expectations going into this earnings season. Analysts on average see technology companies in the S&P 500 growing their aggregated earnings by almost 10%, according to LSEG data. AMD surged more than 4% after it forecast third-quarter revenue above market estimates on Tuesday, banking on demand for its AI chips staying strong. Broadcom, which also sells AI-related chips rallied 12%. "We're still in a tough macro environment. AI is absolutely real, but requires a lot of investment and that is visible in the capex numbers," said Rishi Jaluria, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets. (Reporting by Noel Randewich in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Anna Tong in San Francisco and Aditya Soni, Yuvraj Malik, Kanchana Chakravarty and Zaheer Kachwala in Bengaluru; Editing by David Gregorio, Arun Koyyur and Marguerita Choy)

Nvidia Stock Jumps as Morgan Stanley Calls It a Top Pick After Retreat

Nvidia (NVDA) shares gained Wednesday after Morgan Stanley analysts said the artificial intelligence (AI) darling was a "top pick" after the recent chip sell-off. Nvidia shares were recently up more than 12% to around $116, extending their year-to-date climb above 130% as other chip shares also rose. The analysts didn't change their earnings expectations or $144 price target. "The selloff presents a good entry point as we continue to hear strong data points short term and long term, with overblown competitive concerns," the analysts wrote, noting that Nvidia's shares have "sold off on a large list of concerns that we think are likely to fade with time." Among the concerns that have weighed on Nvidia and its chip peers are tougher trade restrictions and geopolitical tensions. Investors have also voiced concerns about big tech companies' scale of AI spending. Morgan Stanley said strong demand for Nvidia's next generation of AI chips, the Blackwell, will be a catalyst for share price gains. Blackwell is expected to launch later this year. The analysts also said demand for the H100 -- the flagship chip of its predecessor Hopper series -- remains resilient. "The earnings environment is likely to remain strong, for NVIDIA and for the whole AI complex," the analysts wrote. Nvidia's earnings report for the second quarter of fiscal 2025 is set for Aug. 28.

Top analyst puts Nvidia stock on key list after $500 million slump

Nvidia shares powered higher in early Wednesday trading, boosted by gains from rival chipmakers and a bullish research note from a top Wall Street analyst. Nvidia (NVDA) has lost nearly half a billion dollars of market value this month, its worst showing in nearly two years, amid a broader tech-sector selloff. But it remains the clear leader in artificial-intelligence-chip sales. Investors, wary of the stock's astonishing gains over the past six months, have trimmed their holdings amid concern that the group's biggest customers, including hyperscalers will slow their capital-spending plans as they look to monetize billions in AI investments. (The hyperscalers, including Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Amazon AMZN, are the large cloud-services and data-management providers.) Others have worried about a so-called air pocket in Nvidia's sales, where customers hold back on orders of its older H100 chips and wait for the launch of its new Blackwell GPUs later in the year. Supply-chain snarls and increasing competition, particularly from Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and its new MI300X series of GPUs, have also weighed on sentiment. Nvidia is set to report fiscal-second-quarter earnings in late August. Now, Morgan Stanley analyst Joseph Moore and his team say the recent stock pullback "presents a good entry point" for investors, and they added the stock to its Top Pick list for clients of the investment bank. The bank left its $144 price target, as well as its overweight rating, unchanged. Markets are taking what Moore and his team called "a very glass-half-empty view of some of the hyperscale comments" on spending. There is a "clear desire on the part of customers to continue to commit resources to developing multimodal generative AI," the analysts said. A bullish outlook from AMD AMD's bullish near-term outlook, published last night alongside the chipmaker's stronger-than-expected second-quarter earnings, seem to support that view. For the three months ended in June, AMD saw sales from its MI series of chips top the $1 billion mark for the first time. It lifted its full-year sales forecast for AI GPUs by $500 million, taking it to $4.5 billion, even amid a restricted supply-chain backdrop. "We continue to see line of sight to continue increasing supply as we go through the second half of the year," AMD Chief Executive Lisa Su told investors on a conference call late Tuesday. "And we'll continue to work both supply as well as demand opportunities, and really that's accelerating our customer adoption overall." Related: Analyst puts Nvidia stock on watch; report points to new China chip Morgan Stanley's Moore also cited solid demand prospects for both the H-series of Nvidia's AI chips, as well as its recently launched Blackwell offering. The new Blackwell GPU architecture, named after the African American mathematician David Harold Blackwell, performs AI tasks at more than twice the speed of Nvidia's current Hopper chips, while using less energy and providing more bespoke flexibility, the tech group has said. Nvidia holds commanding market share Nvidia told investors in May that its second quarter revenue would rise to around $28 billion, with a 2% margin for error, even as it said the Blackwell system of processors and software wouldn't start shipping until the second half of 2024. Related: Analyst resets Nvidia stock price target in chip-sector overhaul "Visibility will actually increase as demand moves from Hopper to Blackwell, as the constraint will shift back to silicon," the Morgan Stanley team wrote. "H100 lead times are short, but H200 lead times are already long, and Blackwell should be even longer." Morgan Stanley also sees evidence that customers are coming back to Nvidia products after sampling rival offerings, suggesting its dominant market position will likely endure well into the coming year. More AI Stocks: "This is a large market and is not going to be served by a single Nvidia card, but we are hearing multiple instances of customers who have invested in custom silicon or alternatives coming back to Nvidia for upside," Moore and his team said. Nvidia shares were marked 6.8% higher in premarket trading to indicate an opening bell price of $110.75 each. Related: Veteran fund manager sees world of pain coming for stocks

Nvidia (NVDA) Stock Soars 7% On Buy Call From Morgan Stanley

Nvidia Corporation (NVDA) experienced a significant rebound in its stock price on Wednesday, July 31, following a Top Pick rating reassignment from Morgan Stanley. The chipmaker witnessed a robust 7% rally in its stock after a massive decline in Tuesday. Moreover, Morgan Stanley analysts have indicated that it's a good time to buy Nvidia stock. Morgan Stanley On Nvidia The sharp decline in Nvidia stock on Tuesday was part of a broader market sell-off, triggered by concerns surrounding customer capital spending budgets, competitive dynamics, export controls, and supply chain issues. However, Morgan Stanley analysts remain optimistic about the tech firm's long-term prospects. Furthermore, the analysts acknowledged the current challenges, but they believe these issues will diminish over time. They emphasized that customer spending on AI infrastructure has been inconsistent due to space and power constraints. Nevertheless, the demand for the company's GPUs, particularly the H100 series, remains strong. Additionally, the analysts highlighted the resilience of these GPUs and the upcoming Blackwell series. They suggested that "those spending concerns seem premature." Meanwhile, competition from tech behemoths like Amazon (AMZN) and Apple (AAPL) has also put pressure on Nvidia's stock. However, Nvidia's central role in the artificial intelligence market. In addition, its ability to attract customers back from custom silicon alternatives underscore its enduring competitive edge. "This is a large market and is not going to be served by a single Nvidia card, but we are hearing multiple instances of customers who have invested in custom silicon or alternatives coming back to Nvidia for upside," the analysts said. Regarding export control concerns, particularly with China, the analysts noted that while there are risks related to geopolitical factors, Nvidia's minimal trailing revenue from China reduces potential impacts. They also pointed out the adaptability of the H20 product to meet export requirements. This ensures continued market presence despite regulatory hurdles. Overall, Morgan Stanley maintains a positive outlook for Nvidia stock, driven by robust demand indicators and strong customer enthusiasm for the Blackwell GPUs. Additionally, the analysts explained that visibility will improve as demand shifts from Hopper to Blackwell, with the constraint moving back to silicon. They noted, "H100 lead times are short, but H200 lead times are already long, and Blackwell should be even longer." Morgan Stanley's reassignment of Nvidia stock as a Top Pick comes at a time when the company's valuation appears "much more reasonable than a few weeks ago." They believe the current market is "taking a very glass half-empty view of some of the hyperscale comments, where there is a clear desire on the part of customers to continue to commit resources to developing multi-modal generative AI." The strong pre-market trading session on Wednesday, where the NVDA stock gained over 7%, reflected investor confidence in the bank's reassessment. At press time, the NVDA stock rallied by 7.37% to $111.38 during the day. This marks a significant recovery as the Nvidia stock plummeted 7% on Tuesday, closing at $103.73.

Nvidia stock Top Pick at Morgan Stanley again after tech sell-off By Investing.com

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) analysts reassigned a Top Pick rating for Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) stock on Wednesday after the chipmaker's shares fell sharply amid a broader market sell-off the previous day. NVDA tumbled 7% on Tuesday to $103.73, representing its lowest closing price since May. Other chip stocks followed, with the iShares Semiconductor ETF (NASDAQ:SOXX) losing 3.6% on the day. Morgan Stanley issued no changes to their Nvidia estimates or price target, but noted that the sell-off "presents a good entry point as we continue to hear strong data points short term and long term, with overblown competitive concerns." Key concerns contributing to the sell-off include customer capital spending budgets, competitive dynamics, export controls, and supply chain issues. While the bank's analysts acknowledge these challenges, they believe they will diminish over time. For instance, customer spending on AI infrastructure has been non-linear due to space and power constraints, yet the demand for Nvidia's GPUs remains strong. The resilience of Nvidia's H100 GPUs and the upcoming Blackwell series "makes those spending concerns seem premature," analysts noted. Competition from companies like Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), and AMD (NASDAQ:AMD) has also pressured Nvidia's stock. However, Nvidia's central position in the AI market and its ability to attract customers back from custom silicon alternatives highlight its enduring competitive edge. "This is a large market and is not going to be served by a single NVIDIA card, but we are hearing multiple instances of customers who have invested in custom silicon or alternatives coming back to NVIDIA for upside," analysts said. For export control concerns, particularly those concerning China, analysts said that while there are risks related to geopolitical factors, Nvidia's minimal trailing revenue from China reduces potential impacts. Furthermore, the adaptability of Nvidia's H20 product to meet export requirements ensures continued market presence despite regulatory hurdles. Overall, the Wall Street giant maintains a positive outlook for Nvidia stock, chiefly driven by robust demand indicators and strong customer enthusiasm for the Blackwell GPUs. "Visibility will actually increase as demand moves from Hopper to Blackwell, as the constraint will shift back to silicon; H100 lead times are short, but H200 lead times are already long, and Blackwell should be even longer," analysts continued. With a valuation that appears "much more reasonable than a few weeks ago," they believe the market is "taking a very glass half-empty view of some of the hyperscale comments, where there is a clear desire on the part of customers to continue to commit resources to developing multi modal generative AI."

Nvidia Just Grew By $329 Billion In A Single Day

Nvidia started as a humble graphics card maker. Now it's riding the tech industry's AI obsession to absurd new heights. The company added $329 billion to its market cap on Wall Street today after a record-breaking day of stock trading, Bloomberg reports. Most people know Nvidia as the manufacturer of the chip that powers their Android phones, Nintendo Switches, and top-end PC gaming rigs. It got its first big break designing the GPU for Microsoft's original Xbox, and helped Sony design the graphics processor for the PlayStation 3. For years it was the company that held up big hunks metal with plastic fans on stage to woo gamers with upgrades they couldn't afford. Now it's quickly become something else entirely. Nvidia was trading below $15 a share at the start of 2023. Less than two years later it's over $100. What changed? Microsoft and others are gobbling up GPUs to power their AI ambitions. It seemed like the fever might have broken amid a renewed wave of skepticism around what generative AI and machine learning will actually be useful for, but then Microsoft announced it's going to continue pouring billions into server farms for AI computing and Nvidia's stock shot up more than most companies are worth in less than eight hours. Let's remember some previous high scores: $329 billion is more than Netflix, Coca-Cola, and Bank of America. It's the value of eight Electronic Arts and 12 Take-Twos, whose subsidiary Rockstar Games publishes Grand Theft Auto VI next year. Nvidia isn't worth more than ever -- it peaked last month at over $3 trillion -- but this single-day swing points to how completely untethered the company has become from its recent history or the current marketplace reality in which OpenAI is reportedly losing billions. With Meta pivoting from VR to the AI chip arms race and others chasing desperately to catch up, Nvidia has quickly become the center of the tech and financial universe. 'These violent delights have violent ends." We might just be witnessing the first of many transformations before Nvidia's final form. Maybe it will be the first true megacorp in a future cyberpunk dystopia, or maybe some of the plates stop spinning and start breaking and the company goes back to releasing hard-to-find Gundam-branded graphics cards for $4,000 gaming rigs that let you play Ghost of Tsushima in 4K at 120fps. It's never a good sign when the numbers get so insane that they stop meaning anything.

Nvidia Sank Again Today -- Time to Buy the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Growth Stock Hand Over Fist? | The Motley Fool

Nvidia (NVDA -7.04%) stock fell again in Tuesday's trading. The artificial intelligence (AI) frontrunner's share price ended the daily session down 7%, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. Nvidia's pullback in today's trading appears to be a classic case of a "buy the rumor, sell the news" dynamic. Yesterday, CEO Jensen Huang participated in two fireside chats at the SIGGRAPH 2024 conference -- and some investors had set their expectations very high. A report suggesting that Apple had used chips designed by Alphabet to train AI models was also a factor in the sell-off. Nvidia stock is now down roughly 24% from the lifetime high that it hit on June 18. While CEO Jensen Huang provided some interesting commentary and projections about AI assistants and other opportunities yesterday, investors were expecting more. Nvidia did announce new AI models, support services for robotics technologies, and an acceleration of its own humanoid robot development in conjunction with Huang's events at the SIGGRAPH conference. But that still wasn't enough to move the stock in a bullish direction. Adding another bearish catalyst, Reuters reported today that Apple had used Alphabet's chips to train two of its AI models. Thus far, Nvidia has had a clear edge when it comes to advanced graphics processing units (GPUs) for artificial intelligence applications -- and this strength has been the driving force in the stock's incredible rise. If Alphabet and other big tech companies can deliver tech that rivals Nvidia's for AI training, the semiconductor specialist could be in trouble. On the other hand, it's not clear that the company's dominance in the high-end GPU space is actually being threatened -- and the recent pullback could present a buying opportunity for long-term investors. After recent sell-offs, Nvidia is now trading at roughly 38 times this year's expected earnings and 21 times expected sales. The company has already been posting stellar sales growth and margins, and it looks like the excellent expansion momentum and profits are poised to continue in the near term. With its last guidance update, Nvidia estimated that sales would increase 107% year over year to reach $28 billion in the second quarter and a 74.8% gross margin. There's a very good chance that the AI leader will blow past its growth target when it reports earnings at the end of August, and sales growth could accelerate again soon after. The company's next-generation Blackwell processor platform is scheduled to debut in this year's Q4 and is poised to be another powerful performance driver. Given the incredible expectations surrounding Nvidia, it's not shocking that the stock has seen high levels of volatility lately. But the company's valuation actually looks reasonable in the context of its recent momentum and near-term growth trajectory, and there's a good chance that the chip specialist will continue to see powerful, long-term tailwinds from the rise of AI.

Nvidia Stock Is Surging After The Bell: What's Going On? - NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)

Nvidia to report earnings for the second quarter in late August. NVIDIA Corp NVDA shares are trading higher in Tuesday's after-hours session in sympathy with Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. AMD, which got a lift from strong second-quarter earnings results. What Happened With AMD: AMD reported second-quarter revenue of $5.835 billion, beating analyst estimates of $5.724 billion. The chipmaker reported adjusted earnings of 69 cents per share, beating analyst estimates of 68 cents per share. "We delivered strong revenue and earnings growth in the second quarter driven by record Data Center segment revenue. Our AI business continued accelerating and we are well positioned to deliver strong revenue growth in the second half of the year led by demand for Instinct, EPYC and Ryzen processors," said Lisa Su, chair and CEO of AMD. "The rapid advances in generative AI are driving demand for more compute in every market, creating significant growth opportunities as we deliver leadership AI solutions across our business." AMD said it expects third-quarter revenue to be between $6.4 billion and $7 billion versus estimates of $6.61 billion. The company anticipates third-quarter gross margin of approximately 53.5%. AMD also said on its conference call that it expects GPU revenue to exceed $4.5 billion this year, up from its prior forecast of approximately $4 billion. AMD shares were up more than 7% in extended trading at last check. Related Link: AMD Shares Rebound After Chipmaker Posts Q2 Beat, Guidance Tops Expectations: CEO Lisa Su Says AI Business Accelerating Why It Matters: Nvidia has been the biggest beneficiary of the AI boom, but the stock sold off in recent weeks as investors braced for big tech earnings. AMD's upside surprise and commentary surrounding data center and AI strength appear to be spurring a bounce in Nvidia shares after the bell. Nvidia is not due to report earnings for the second quarter until late August. The company is expected to report earnings of 64 cents per share and revenue of $28.465 billion. Nvidia has beat analyst estimates on the top and bottom lines in six consecutive quarters, according to Benzinga Pro data. NVDA Price Action: Nvidia shares initially traded down below the $101 level in extended trading before staging a sharp reversal. The stock was up 2.88% in after-hours, trading at $106.72 at the time of publication, according to price data from Benzinga Pro. Read Next: Microsoft Q4 Earnings Highlights: Revenue Beat, EPS Beat, Cloud Revenue Up 21% YoY, 'Ensuring We Lead The AI Era' Photo: Shutterstock. Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Morgan Stanley names Nvidia a top pick, says sell-off is overdone and it's a great time to buy

Morgan Stanley said the July sell-off in Nvidia has gone too far and it's time for investors to buy the dip. The firm moved the stock back to "top pick" status in the chip space. "The selloff presents a good entry point as we continue to hear strong data points short term and long term, with overblown competitive concerns," wrote analyst Joseph Moore. Nvidia shares are off 16% this month and 26% from their all-time high as investors rotated out of some of the big artificial intelligence tech winners and embraced laggards of the bull market -- such as small caps. Moore also listed a large list of concerns hitting Nvidia lately including competition, possible export controls and valuation. Those worries are likely to "fade with time," he wrote in the Wednesday note. NVDA YTD mountain Nvdia, YTD Nvidia shares rebounded Wednesday after peer AMD reported better-than-expected second-quarter earnings and revenue and said revenue this quarter would top expectations. Nvidia stock is still up more than 100% on the year and gained 6% in the premarket. Morgan Stanley rates Nvidia as overweight and has a $144 price target, which represents a 38% rally from Tuesday's close. "What turns this selloff around?," asks Moore in the note. "We frankly aren't sure, but there are plenty of catalysts ahead - the prospect for multiple upward revisions, an increase to lead times and visibility as demand transitions to Blackwell, a strong answer to any competitive concerns, and the lack of other exciting stories in semis away from the AI theme, at a valuation that is suddenly much more reasonable than a few weeks ago." Despite the sell-off, most of Wall Street remains firmly behind Nvidia with the average price target calling for a 30% rebound ahead.

Nvidia shares sink up to 8% as tech sell-off reignites

Nvidia shares sank by as much as 8 per cent on Tuesday as a heavy sell-off in chipmaking stocks reignited ahead of a number of closely watched earnings reports from Big Tech companies this week. The Silicon Valley chipmaker, which is the dominant provider of the powerful processors needed for building artificial intelligence systems, has lost almost $750bn in market capitalisation since it briefly became the world's most valuable publicly traded company last month. Other chip stocks followed. Arm, the semiconductor designer that has also been a big beneficiary of investors' enthusiasm for AI-related stocks this year, was also 7 per cent lower in intraday trading on Tuesday. Both companies are still up by more than 100 per cent for the past year, driven by a wave of capital spending by the likes of Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta to build out the technical underpinnings of AI. Ahead of Microsoft's earnings report on Tuesday after the markets close, some traders are fretting that profit expectations for companies involved in AI are too high and that capital spending is running far ahead of returns. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index was down 1.9 per cent in early afternoon trading while the benchmark S&P 500 was 1 per cent lower. As well as Nvidia, shares in chipmakers AMD and Intel -- who also report this week -- were trading lower. "There's a lot of angst in the market ahead of reporting," said Emmanuel Cau, head of European equity strategy at Barclays. Apple, Amazon and Meta will be publishing their quarterly numbers later this week. He added that investors were also cautious ahead of a busy few days for central banks, with interest rate decisions by the Bank of Japan, Federal Reserve and Bank of England all due. Investors have been selling tech companies in recent weeks, pushing the Nasdaq down about 9 per cent from its peak in mid-July. The index suffered its worst day since 2022 last week following results from Alphabet and Tesla. Cau said the rotation out of tech stocks was "all about position-driven moves while investors await clarity from macro data and earnings".

Why Nvidia Stock Continued to Slide Today

There has been an ongoing rotation in the stock market, and one of the losers has been previously high-flying Nvidia (NVDA -6.38%). Shares of the leading artificial intelligence (AI) chip and software maker continued to drop on Tuesday. Today, shares fell more than 8% before paring some of that drop. At the intraday low of about $102.5 per share, the stock was down more than 25% from its recent June intraday high of more than $140. As of 2:15 p.m. ET, shares were still lower on the day by 5.6%. But a sector rotation might not be the only factor driving the drop. It's true that investors are moving out of the large tech companies and into previously lagging small-cap stocks as they prepare for the first interest rate cuts since 2020. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has also been selling the stock, and sometimes that spooks investors. Especially since the stock has more than doubled year to date, even after the recent decline. Huang has sold more than 3 million shares since mid-June at an average price of about $126 per share, reports Barron's. But insider sales can be made for more reasons than just stock valuation. In fact, Huang's sales have been made through a prearranged trading plan known as Rule 10b5-1. That allows company insiders to sell a planned amount of stock at a scheduled time or set intervals. Investors might be seeing Huang's sales as a sign it could also be time to de-risk their positions as well. Nvidia won't announce its fiscal second-quarter results until Aug. 28, but investors are already watching earnings reports in the sector this week. Nvidia shares will likely react to what other prominent tech companies in the artificial intelligence sector like Microsoft and Advanced Micro Devices say about AI investments and demand for chips when each company reports after today's closing bell. Some investors would rather avoid the volatility, and they look to be selling Nvidia stock again today.

Wednesday's analyst calls: Nvidia a top pick, auto stock gets an upgrade

(This is CNBC Pro's live coverage of Wednesday's analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) A tech giant and an automaker were among the names being talked about by analysts on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley named Nvidia a top pick, noting it sees the stock's near-term headwinds easing. Nomura, meanwhile, upgraded Stellantis to buy. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. All times ET. 5:48 a.m.: Nomura upgrades automaker to buy Stellantis' resolve to address its headwinds in North America has Nomura confident in the stock's potential. Investors are concerned about Stellantis' high inventory overhangs and aging model lineups in North America, Nomura acknowledged. However, "we take a positive view of company management's acknowledgement of the issues affecting Stellantis' North America (NA) business and showing resolve to address those challenges," analyst Anindya Das wrote. Das upgraded shares to buy from neutral. To be sure, he trimmed his price target to 21 euros from 24 euros. The automaker's U.S.-listed shares are down more than 28% in 2024. By comparison, the other "Big 6" original equipment manufacturers are up by around 5%, while the S & P 500 has gained nearly 15%, Das pointed out. In addition, the company's investments in the first half of the year to launch cost-competitive new products in Europe should help address slower sales growth, Das added. -- Hakyung Kim 5:48 a.m.: Morgan Stanley names Nvidia a top pick Investor concerns that have sparked a big sell-off in Nvidia will most likely dissipate, making this a big buying opportunity, according to Morgan Stanley. Analyst Joseph Moore named the chipmaker a top pick, reiterating his overweight rating and $144 price target. "The selloff presents a good entry point as we continue to hear strong data points short term and long term, with overblown competitive concerns," Moore wrote in a note to clients. "We are seeing consistent upside to AI capex everywhere, but customer comments about q/q progression of spending are having an impact on AI semiconductor stocks. We understand the importance of consistent growth, but customers are wrestling with a wide variety of space and power constraints such that spending is non linear," he added. Nvidia shares have more than doubled this year. However, they have plunged 16% this month. NVDA mountain 2024-06-28 NVDA this month -- Fred Imbert

Nvidia and Other Chip Stocks Drag S&P 500, Nasdaq Lower Tuesday -- Here's Why

The losses came ahead of earnings from some of the chip companies' largest big tech customers, amid concerns about their spending on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, and ahead of key decisions on interest rates from the Federal Reserve that could favor small-cap stocks. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were both down sharply in late trading Tuesday, with Nvidia and other chip stocks among the biggest decliners. Big Tech Earnings To Highlight Spending on AI, and Chips With Microsoft set to report earnings after the bell Tuesday, Meta following on Wednesday, and Apple reporting Thursday, investors could get key updates on how big tech leaders are approaching AI investments, amid concerns about their costs. Whether they signal a pullback to appease investors' worries about AI's hefty price tag, or double down, will have implications for chipmakers, whose products support the data centers powering AI, and could be some of the biggest beneficiaries of rising AI spending. Earnings from AMD on Tuesday, chip designer Arm (ARM) on Wednesday, and Intel (INTC) on Thursday, could also speak to the rising appetite for AI chips. Pullback Comes Amid Market Rotation Ahead of Key Fed Decisions on Interest Rates Tuesday's pullback from tech stocks also comes amid a broader market shift ahead of key decisions on interest rates from the Federal Reserve that could benefit small-cap stocks. While the central bank isn't expected to lower interest rates at its policy meeting tomorrow, expectations that the Fed will lower rates in September have fueled hopes that small-cap stocks could get a boost after lagging big tech companies' performance so far this year. However, CFRA, Wedbush, Bank of America, and UBS analysts have suggested earlier this month that the recent pullback in tech stocks could be temporary, citing strong fundamentals and surging demand for AI products, potentially offering long-term investors an opportunity to "buy the dip."